The first month of 2014 was all about innovation in the collaborative economy here at Mindjet. From understanding drivers to finding unique ways to innovate in the sharing economy, embracing emerging markets, and facing challenges, we covered a wide range of topics that can help you better understand how to secure competitive advantage in a new space, without falling victim to an inflexible company culture or improperly managed resources.

Below are some of our favorite pieces from January. Check them out and let us know what you think in the comments!

Innovation in the Collaborative Economy

“Most industries have been collectively addressing the problem of geographical disparity for at least a decade, and myriad technological solutions have sprouted up because of it. But somehow, the ability to access talent and employees globally hasn’t made quite the impact across corporate cultures that it has the potential to. There’s still a clinging expectation of traditional hiring, retention, and engagement practices internally, which makes the idea of external, widespread collaboration (especially in the B2B arena) pretty close to a pipe dream for many companies. But, if every business treated the talent pool like it was actually accessible to them — which technically, it can be — the possibilities for refining goals, tapping emerging markets, and having the best people on-hand to support your efforts are exponentially greater than when limiting the majority of the business to specific regions.”

The Collaborative Economy and Disruption: Understanding Drivers

“It’s important to make sense of the universal drivers that have lead so many industries down the path of shareable services. In the P2P (peer-to-peer) market, consumers are able to transact directly, without interference from “middle-man” brands and organizations. But, because larger businesses still want to manage these interactions globally as they traditionally have, the collaborative economy poses a threat to stability, growth, and scalability. Or does it?

Altimeter Group doesn’t think so. In fact, they describe this shift as “an economic model where ownership and access are shared between corporations, start-ups and people. This results in market efficiencies that bear new products, services and business growth.” That analysis leaves plenty of room for larger, established organizations to step in and leverage the possibilities of a P2P landscape.”

4 Ways to Shape Innovation in the Collaborative Economy

“The concept of dynamic business tactics is frankly lost on a lot of people, especially when what’s previously worked did so for a very long time. But it’s no secret that the changing technological landscape is having profound effects on the way companies are run, and in turn, an impact on strategy (innovation especially). The greatest threat of the sharing economy to innovation and profitability is the very real possibility that sales will dramatically decline as consumers share products and services with each other at a base level. Ask yourself what traditional practices you can let go of to lessen the damage, and work on phasing them out.”

Prepare to Share: Getting Your Business Ready for the Collaborative Economy

“If the onset of the collaborative economy is as disruptive as predicted, it makes sense to get a little ‘disaster preparedness’ in place for your business model. After all, accepting the likelihood of change or the possibility of failure doesn’t mean you have to do it blindly. As top-tier companies start to recognize that the collaborative economy model can facilitate better quality results while simultaneously boosting efficiency and reducing costs, best practices will start to emerge — but nobody has time to wait for that.”

A Whole New World: Enterprise Innovation in Emerging Economies

“A lot of the time, when we talk about business innovation and market relevance, we’re collectively referring to major markets like the United States and Europe. And while it’s unlikely that these regions will be eclipsed by smaller sectors any time soon, forward-thinking leaders recognize the necessity of focusing some energy on innovation in emerging markets.

Creating successful, sustainable innovation programs in these locales, however, is quite a bit different from what’s being done in dominant economies.”

4 Challenges of Innovating in the Collaborative Economy

“One of the most notable characteristics of the collaborative economy is the shifting power dynamic. As sharing markets take root, control moves from corporation to customer, and key drivers are a result of consumer choices and exchanges, rather than service and production decisions made by organizations. It’s one of the reasons that many larger companies are shaking in their proverbial boots, and worrying about what that means for internal innovation programs.

Innovation and Diversity: Earnings, Creativity, and the Global Economy

“According to research, 85% of executive leaders recognize the impact that diversity has on innovation. Clearly, that’s to be expected — if strength lies in differences, as Stephen Covey believes, then diversity in any form will always spark new ideas, reshape existing ones, and inspire fresh perspectives.

However, the question isn’t really about whether or not diversity is a key driver of innovation (we know it is), but whether or not decision makers are effectively leveraging its power.”